Shloka 19
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
नानामृगगणैर्जुष्टं नानापक्षिगणावृतम् | नानाद्रुमलताच्छन्नं नानाव्यालनिषेवितम्
nānāmṛgagaṇair juṣṭaṃ nānāpaksigaṇāvṛtam | nānādrumalatācchannaṃ nānāvyālanisevitam ||
三阇耶说道：“他们来到一片广袤的森林——诸类野兽成群出没，百种飞鸟聚集其间，树木藤蔓层层遮覆，又有多种蛇类栖居。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive, but it implicitly frames the ethical atmosphere: the move into a perilous, concealment-filled forest foreshadows covert violence. In the Sauptika context, nature’s imagery (serpents, darkness, dense cover) mirrors the moral descent associated with the impending nocturnal slaughter.
Sañjaya describes the party’s arrival at a large forest teeming with animals and birds, thick with trees and creepers, and inhabited by serpents—setting the scene and mood for the events that unfold in the Sauptika Parva.